Fitzkin Cogwood
Backstory Fitz grew up like any other goblin in his day, raiding villages near his clan’s cave, helping his father and brothers with the excavation of the tunnels, and taking guard shifts over the “shiny things.” The one difference that made him what he is today was his uncle Martigan. Most goblins called Martigan mad because of his dealings with the Gnomes. At a young age Martigan had ventured off one day without saying a word to anyone. Everyone thought he was killed while looking for more shiny things, but Martigan went to join the Gnomish school of Discovery. During his time at the school he became an expert of metallurgy and explosives engineering. When Martigan returned to the clan he wanted to show them all the wonderful new tools that would benefit their everyday lives. They all reviled him shouting, “MadMartigan the Gnome lover!” He was cast out of the caves before ever showing his inventions. Fitz’s parents forbid him from visiting his uncle, but his curious nature wouldn’t allow it. For three years Fitz snuck away to his uncle’s nearby hut to learn of the wonderous Gnomish world of invention. They would consistently tinker with new guns and explosives, but unfortunately only so much could be done with the materials that were available to them in that area. Months passed since the last invention Fitz and his uncle made. They both started to feel they had hit a dead end. As fate would have it, during one of the usual raids of the nearby village Fitz spotted a flyer nailed to a stall in the market square. He quickly snatched it up and kept it secret from the others. As soon as he could, he raced to his Uncle’s home to show him what he had found. They both rejoiced as this is exactly what they needed to kickstart that innovative spark. The celebration was short-lived however. Martigan’s heart couldn’t take the excitement, he clutched his chest and fell to the floor. His last words, “Fitz do me proud my boy. You are more of an artificer than I ever was. I have taught you all I can. Remember our motto, Hope all things—Prove all things. Now go, Discover Hardholme.” On The Ship During Fitz’s trip he has spent much of the time attempting to uncover the science behind the portal to Hardholme. Even though he is consistently carrying around his notebook he is no stranger to getting to know others on the ship. In fact, he tends to ask many questions about the others onboard often jotting notes in his book seemingly about the conversation, but more than likely they are not. He wasn’t raised with the etiquette to not delve into a person’s private life. However, he has become increasingly better about reading body language and knows when he should stop talking about just walk away. Some of the ship members may already know about asking him about his scientific/arcane discoveries. Fitz loves to discuss at length the millions of ideas floating through his head. It is not a conversation, but he is such a polite little goblin it is hard to tell him to shut up. You probably won’t be able to get a word in until he remembers to breathe during his scientific tirade. As time passed, Fitz learned more about how to interact with people. He understands more about others body language. His interaction with Buckler and chess has brought about a new love for teaching. He didn’t understand this concept before because no goblins were ever interested in what he had to say so it was just him rambling. He also has “observation notes” on others in the ship. Those are private though and does not discuss them. Quirks Fitz does not like the water at all. Being on a boat is unsettling and he can handle it, but never expect him to jump into a body of water for any reason. It really stems from the time he made a toy boat as a child and put it in the river. The current was very strong and had the boat sailing down the river so fast. He quickly ran after it jumping from stone to stone trying to catch up to it. Finally it got stuck between two boulders. As he reached to get it, he lost his footing and tumbled into the river. His foot had become lodged between the two stones. While he struggled to release his foot gasps of air were few are far between. When almost all hope was lost a rope thrown by his father wrapped around him hoisting him from the river. His strange quirk is relieving himself in Celador’s greenhouse. At first this wasn’t strange to him because this was a practice of goblins and their own gardens. But one day Buckler literally caught him with his pants down and had to explain to him that this type of behavior is definitely frowned upon. Even though he knows now it’s not ok, he still does it because it is the most comfort from home he has. He is just much more careful to not be spotted. His guilty pleasures will remain hidden away in his observation notes.